WSBK test - Studying the timesheets: Day 1

The much anticipated first day of official World Superbike testing got underway at Portimao, with Jakub Smrz taking the honour of claiming the fastest time with an impressive last gasp effort for newcomers Effenbert Liberty Ducati.

It is a measure of the Czech rider's consistency that would see him come out on top, Smrz proving more than a tenth faster than the competition despite not topping any of the five sectors that make up the Portuguese circuit.

Indeed, when Smrz's lap is dissected, he is only 12th through sector one (5.2secs), fourth in sector two (27.5secs), third in sector three (30.8secs), fourth in sector four (20.4secs) and fifth in sector five (19.2secs).

Like Smrz, Jonathan Rea doesn't come out on top in any sector, though his combined best sectors would have given him the fastest time at the end of the session.

Instead, Ducati counterpart Carlos Checa is fastest in S2 and S3, while Michel Fabrizio and Eugene Laverty are quickest in S4 and S5 respectively, but their hopes of coming out on top overall are scuppered by tardier efforts in other sections of the circuit.

Other interesting notes from timesheets include Max Biaggi losing time in S2, while James Toseland is particularly struggling through S3, though generally it remains typically close throughout the WSBK field.

Having gotten used to seeing an Aprilia max out with the highest km/h reading in 2010, Kawasaki will be pleased to see Tom Sykes fastest through past the speed trap in both of the day's sessions, the new ZX-10R posting a best of 302.5km/h – already some 7km/h faster than the older bike was at the same stage in 2010.

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